On his final lap of the session, the world champion posted a lap of 1 minute, 24.824 seconds around the Buddh International Circuit, putting him a third of a second ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button, with Red Bull's Mark Webber third fastest.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest, with that top four covered by less than half a second. The Ferrari pair of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were fifth and sixth respectively.